


What Newt Scamander Says

by SageTheWriter



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Post-Movie 2: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:41:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25112524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SageTheWriter/pseuds/SageTheWriter
Relationships: Jacob Kowalski & Newt Scamander, Newt Scamander & Theseus Scamander, Tina Goldstein/Newt Scamander
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	What Newt Scamander Says

What can you say?

What can you say to a man who’s just lost his fiancée, to a woman who’s just lost her sister, to a country who’s just lost its last hope of peace?

How do you comfort people when you’re struggling yourself? When you barely understand your own emotions? When the thoughts in their heads, the expressions on their faces, seem more strange and mysterious than your own magical creatures?

What can you say to your brother who’s lost the love of his life? You don’t say _I loved her too_. You don’t say _you’ll be okay without her_. You don’t say _you’ve always taken things from people, maybe now you understand how it feels_. You don’t. You can’t. Because he’s her brother, and you love him. Sort of. You think. This is love, isn’t it? To want him to be safe and happy, so long as it’s safe and happy away from you? But he only wants to be safe and happy near you. And now his fiancée, who you loved first, is dead and he’s grieving. What do you say to that?

What you end up saying is nothing. But you stop by his apartment at least twice a week, and you make a point to say hello to him in the hall at the Ministry of Magic. You only mumble a greeting, waving quickly as you pass by before hurrying away, but even that is an effort. After all, you’re so out of practice with remembering others. Maybe he appreciates it, maybe he doesn’t—you’ve never been able to tell with your brother. You know he wants to see you, though, and in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t _too_ terrible a sacrifice to see his face a little more than usual. Sometimes you even see him smile.

But what about the woman? What can you say to her, the woman whose sister has joined an anti-Muggle extremist? Do you say comforting things like _it’s all right_ and _it’s not your fault_? But that isn’t true, or at least not completely. So do you tell the truth to her, then, and say things like _it’s a bad situation_ , or, _your sister made her own choices_ , or, _someday this will all be over, one way or another_? Wouldn’t that hurt? Hasn’t she been hurt enough? And you can’t say the thought that you want to, the one that’s been prowling around in the back of your head. _You shouldn’t be worrying about someone who sided with a murderer._ Because you like her sister, you do, but you know what she did. You and the woman both know what she did. But you know you can’t say that. You are so tempted sometimes, but you can’t. It would put the flame out in her salamander eyes, and it would break her zuwhou heart.

Again, you simply say nothing. But you invite her over to help with your creatures, and you say hello to her in the Ministry of Magic halls, and sometimes you read her some of the pages in your book, the book that you’ve never shown anyone because it’s not perfect yet and you’re a little worried it never will be. When she cries (and it isn’t often she cries, but it happens), you let her sob into your blue woolen coat, and you don’t say anything. You’re sure that she, at least, appreciates it, because she tells you once or twice. Like you, she’s not very good at dealing with her emotions, much less other people’s; but unlike you, she does something about them anyway, and you admire that about her. You admire a lot of things about her. You would probably do anything to make her smile.

There are other people. There’s your friend, your best friend even, who lost the person he loved. You don’t say anything to him, but you stop by his bakery every once in a while and buy a pastry. They’re very good, and you hope he knows it; you would tell him, but he always gets blustery and denies that he has talent, and you think he must not like hearing about it. Unlike everyone else, he seems to like your beasts, and you sometimes ask him to assist you with them even though you have your actual assistant for help. This, you know he must like. It’s nice to see him laugh.

There’s the snake girl, the Metamorphous. She’s lost…you don’t even know what she’s lost. Everything, most likely. Her home. Her family. You saw her with Credence, but then she lost him, too. Soon she’ll lose her humanity. You don’t say much of anything to her, either, but you work long hours every night to try and find a cure, a potion or magical enhancement that will keep her curse at bay. There have already been two women you cared for lost this year, and you refuse to lose another. You’ve never seen her smile, but you know it must be there, and every time you get tired of working on potions and elixirs late at night, you need only remember that snakes can’t smile and off you go again.

You never say anything. You’re not the kind of person who uses words to touch people. But every pastry you eat, every half-hearted wave you give, every page you read and every night you spend working…it all says something anyway.

It says, _I’m here_.

It says, _I’m trying._

Most of all, it says, _I love you._

You may not speak, but as all your loved ones can attest, what you say is more than enough.


End file.
